


A Merry Joining

by pearl_o



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Group Marriage, Multi, Polyamory, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-08
Updated: 2016-12-08
Packaged: 2018-09-07 06:05:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8786485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pearl_o/pseuds/pearl_o
Summary: Erik always insisted they didn't need a third partner in their marriage, but Magda is thrilled when he reconsiders.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Red](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red/gifts).



For as long as they had been married Erik had been stubbornly insistent that he would never bring them home a third.

The first few times he had come out with the pronouncement, Magda had offered to do the selection process herself, but Erik had rejected that suggestion as well.

"No," he was apt to say, jaw set, "it will be just us. I could never want anybody else."

Magda hadn't argued with him about it after the first month or so. It was a sweet thought, in its own way. And it might be a queer arrangement, only the two of them in the household, but what did that matter if they were happy? Besides, Erik's parents had been a twosome, and he was awfully sensitive to any implications there was anything wrong or lesser about it. He'd turned out perfectly fine, after all.

So it went for the first five years of their marriage. Until one day Magda was pulling weeds in the front garden when Erik came home from a long trip away with another man on the back of his horse.

Erik's face was composed in a hilarious expression, a sort of annoyance or irritation covering up an obvious embarrassment. Magda knew at once what it must mean, and she stood up, wiping her dirt-covered hands on her knees and biting back her smile.

It was relief she felt more than anything, she thought. Relief, and excitement.

"He seemed a practical choice," Erik said to her later, when they were alone, scrubbing dishes after supper while Charles took a walk around the property. "He's a genius, you know. And he's rich, too, plenty to contribute to the household. He's even charmed like I am. It simply made sense."

There were lots of potential spouses over the years who had made sense, in Magda's opinion. Not one of them had ever made Erik look at them twice, let alone with that soft expression in the eyes she had caught him aiming at Charles at dinner when he thought neither of them were noticing.

"Mm," she said noncommittally. "He's rather pretty, too, don't you think?"

"Magda," Erik said sharply, and she laughed and flicked a bit of soapy water at him.

"Have you sampled the goods yet, then?" Magda said, just to see him look shocked and even more sternly disapproving. 

She wouldn't have blamed him if he had. Charles _was_ pretty, in a solid boyish way, dark hair and blue eyes, freckles and an infectious smile, a year or two younger than Magda and an inch or two shorter. She could imagine those traits on her babies, mixing together with Erik's handsome features and her own familiar face, and she liked the idea of it. 

Still, a person could be pretty and smart and rich and still not fit into a marriage. That's why the engagement period was so important, the three of them living together for a period before they officially amended the marriage contract. A chance for any of them to change their mind and step out.

A month was a normal period. Some people did longer, to be sure. It took Magda three days of Charles in their house to be absolutely certain, and she rather thought she was the last one to be sure. 

The three of them managed to wait two weeks to keep things respectable. 

Erik being Erik had insisted it was only fair that he and Magda refrain from marital relations as well during that time; so altogether the wedding night among the three of them was an awfully hungrily anticipated affair that somehow nonetheless managed to live up to Magda's expectations.

"You're thinking about babies already," Charles said to her, curled up in the big bed afterwards. Erik was already asleep, snoring ever so softly.

Magda grinned at him but didn't deny it. "Everyone knows children are stronger with three parents instead of two. Genetic diversity and all that--" She said this part vaguely; she didn't quite know what the scientists were doing in the universities far off in the cities by the coast, but she had picked up a few concepts just from conversations with Charles these past weeks. It didn't matter, really, since it just seemed to be proving the obvious. "--and more important," she added, "three people to split the work."

Charles matched her smile, stretching over to kiss her briefly again.

"You know, I fell in love with Erik immediately," he said thoughtfully. His voice was very soft, as if perhaps he was wishing to keep Erik from hearing too. "Love at first sight, they say. And I wasn't...I wasn't very happy at home, really. When Erik asked me to come, I jumped at the chance. I probably would have agreed to anything. We were halfway here before I really gave much thought to what the other spouse might be like."

"That's so foolish," Magda said, more tenderly than not.

"I told myself I'd made a commitment and I'd keep to it and even if you were cruel or vicious my love for Erik would carry me through." Charles's eyes were twinkling a little, as if in acknowledgement of how melodramatic it all sounded. "Imagine how it felt when I arrived here and discovered my other was _you_."

"You are a sweet talker, Charles," Magda said. She thought he could probably hear her delight. 

She had to climb over Erik in order to kiss Charles properly again, and if the jostling awoke Erik as she did--well, all the better.


End file.
